Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

Hidden in Storage

Theo hadn't emerged from her room at all. Ava had been hanging around the deck after everyone was kicked out of Theo's room, both to talk to some of the women about the stressful day but also to keep an eye on what Theo was doing. In the middle of a conversation with one of the vanguard women, Ava spotted Theo leaving her quarters out of the corner of her eye. She was waist-deep in a conversation about Hops and she was trying to help the other woman mourn so ditching the conversation wasn't an option. She let Theo go and continued about her quartermaster business.

Ava didn't know Hops all that well but they did spend some time together while Ava was staying in the lower decks. She was funny and most of the women on the ship, especially the vanguard, were close to her. Ava learned that Hops died protecting Iness, one of the youngest girls on the vanguard. Iness was in Tuni's room, almost inconsolable, so Ava spent some of her night there trying to comfort the girl. Once her presence was no longer needed anywhere on the ship, Ava set out in her search for Theo.

Cooker and Xyra had their own way of knowing what Theo needed or wanted; having been together for over half a classification meant they were able to work seamlessly, rarely communicating verbally at times. Ava didn't have that luxury, she couldn't just take one look at Theo and know what to do. As a quartermaster and as a friend she was worried. Theo had been snappy, impatient, and unhappy ever since the manor, and Ava wanted to help in any way she could. Theo acted invincible but she wasn't. No one could be that unaffected by killing and pillaging, no matter how justified.

After about an hour of searching, Ava was convinced that Theo had jumped overboard. Theo wasn't in the library, in Tuni's room, in the mess hall, or the training room. She hadn't gone back to her quarters, or Cooker's, or Xyra's. There was only one place she hadn't checked and it was for a reason, the storage room. If Ava was being honest, she was terrified of what Miss Yurwa would do to her if she found out that Ava had been snooping around the storage room without permission. No one had told her she wasn't allowed to but Miss Yurwa never seemed fond of visitors during regular hours so she couldn't imagine what after-hours visitors would get if caught. But in her restless search for Theo, she had to continue. Ava trudged into the depths of the ship to check the forbidden room.

Ava brought her set of keys with her just in case but it wasn't needed, the door was unlocked. She pushed it open slowly so as to not make too much noise and when she peeked in she found Theo there. The Captain was resting upon a throne of furs and rugs and fine linens. She had her head tilted back with her eyes closed and her fist tightly wrapped around a large bottle of liquor. She brought the bottle to her lips and took a large gulp with her eyes still closed. Ava watched as Theo plunged her hand into an open chest of gold and began to swim her hand through it. Ava stood in the doorway awaiting an invitation in but Theo seemed to have not seen her.

Theo finally picked her head back up and opened her eyes but she didn't notice Ava's presence yet. She leaned over to where her hand was in the chest and picked out a gold coin. Theo flipped it over in her fingers, examining it intently.

"Are you afraid that the gold is fake?" Ava asked then began to walk into the room, forgoing an invitation.

"I know what fake gold looks like and this ain't it," Theo retorted and tossed the coin back into its place, not phased at the intrusion, "Tonight I'm not in the mood for, y'know."

Theo motioned between the two of them. Ava used the piles of stuff around them to support herself as she climbed up the giant stack of loot and sat down next to Theo, facing the captain. Ava just shrugged and hugged her knees to her chest.

"I'm not here for that," Ava said.

"No training," Theo pointed out, "don't have the capacity for that right now."